Graduates’ donation to university museum

University of St Andrews graduates have presented £1,000 to the Bell- Pettigrew Museum.

The After Many Days Club made the donation at a special reception on Friday 23 June. The museum, which houses an extensive range of natural history exhibits, can trace its origins back to the 19th century but continues to be an important part of the University’s outreach programme. New information boards, already installed, will help the visiting public to appreciate what is on display. The club’s gift will also support the production of moulds of the heads of Galapagos finches – so important in the formulation of Darwin’s theory of evolution – which will be included in teaching kits for schools.

Dr Frank Quinault, Club President, said, “The club was delighted to be in a position, thanks to the generosity of its members, to be able to support this valuable educational work”.

The After Many Days Club is an organisation for graduates which helps them keep in touch with one another after they have left. It too can trace its origins back to the 19th century and takes its name from a poem from that era, written by a former student reflecting on his time at St Andrews. The club has nearly 2000 members worldwide and holds a Reunion Weekend each year at the end of June.

The Bell-Pettigrew Museum is open to the public on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, 2-5pm, until 15 September 2006.

NOTE TO EDITORS – You are invited to send a reporter/photographer to the event at 7pm on Friday 23 June, Bell-Pettigrew Museum, Bute Medical School.

Issued by Beattie Media – www.beattiegroup.com On behalf of the University of St Andrews For more information, please contact Claire Grainger, Press Officer – 01334 462530, 07730 415 015 or [email protected]; Ref: press releases/aftermanydaysbellpet View the latest University news at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk